Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the heavy investments that are pouring in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Wall Street investors have started to embrace the transformative potential of the revolutionary blockchain technology that gives birth to new Bitcoins as a reward for successful verification of transactions. Bitcoin startups have also started receiving financial support from giants of various industries such as the telecom major Orange which announced its plan to fund such projects in Silicon Valley.
Several other tech leaders such as IBM, Samsung and banks including UBS have already announced their plans to create highly innovative, even more useful applications based on the blockchain technology. Samsung, through its research initiative, will attempt to bring down the already very low Bitcoin transaction fees.
If Blockchain is this useful, why isn’t the world supporting Bitcoin?
The tech companies, the financial institutions and the governments which are interested in the ledger technology are chary of the criminal usage of the digital currency, high volatility, and security concerns. The tech companies are researching and investing in the underlying technology to create applications which will help in improving their operational efficiencies. For example, the principle behind Bitcoin can allow a multinational to integrate communications between the otherwise independent processes.
Leading banks such as UBS and Bank of New York Mellon have announced separate projects to delve into the blockchain technology with an aim to reform the traditional banking system which looks very outdated in front of Bitcoin.
Governments are hoping to create a parallel digital currency framework which will be centralized – fully or partially – and regulated by a central bank.
Crux of the story
Even though it may see that the Bitcoin industry is witnessing a mammoth inflow of dollars, it is clear that investors are more interested in the basic technology. This could be the reason why we often hear: “I’m not so keen on Bitcoin, but I do like the blockchain!”